What's up with all the crappy 80's films?!

[Buck'em]

Seriously, TCM should well know that movies made in the 1980's do fit in the "classic" film genre.  I've noticed they've been playing more and more 80's films, and what's more is that they were either box office flops or the crappy straight to VHS fare. There are so many truly classic films that were made by studios other than MGM that TCM has yet to show. So what's up TCM with all the crappy 80's films????

[cigarjoe]

What's up with all the crappy 30s-40s films, there is no way the  Blondie or Maisie serials are Classic. Seriously Classic films come from all decades.

[LsDoorMat]

1 hour ago, Buck'em said:

Seriously, TCM should well know that movies made in the 1980's do fit in the "classic" film genre.  I've noticed they've been playing more and more 80's films, and what's more is that they were either box office flops or the crappy straight to VHS fare. There are so many truly classic films that were made by studios other than MGM that TCM has yet to show. So what's up TCM with all the crappy 80's films????

You might be talking about TCM Underground in which the whole point is to show films that look goofy by today's standards. On the other hand, I have noticed films from the 70s and 80s showing up in the wee hours that are second and third tier in quality. The thing they all have in common? They were made by Warner Bros., TCM's parent company.  To stay in budget I guess that costs TCM virtually nothing to air.

[Looney]

And of course they can also say that time has passed and these films are old enough to be considered "Classics".  I think we should all be honest.  When TCM/Warner Brothers corporate uses the term "Classic" they don't mean memorable; they mean old.  And if they own the movie they are going to show it because, as calvinnme pointed out, it doesn't cost them like it does to license content from other companies.

[sagebrush]

1 hour ago, Buck'em said:

Seriously, TCM should well know that movies made in the 1980's do fit in the "classic" film genre.  I've noticed they've been playing more and more 80's films, and what's more is that they were either box office flops or the crappy straight to VHS fare. There are so many truly classic films that were made by studios other than MGM that TCM has yet to show. So what's up TCM with all the crappy 80's films????

As calvinnme wrote, these are TCM Underground films. They are horrendous, but I enjoy seeing them, although I quite often doze off during them. I was a teenager during the late 70's-mid 80's when most of these films were made. I really hated that era; the big, teased hair with big scarves or bows, the hybrid disco-gypsy clothing and the space-aged eye make-up ( and that's just the guys! )

I also despised so much of the music from that time, with it's electronic drums and keyboards, and the song themes seemingly always about a "party" somewhere. I'm generalizing, of course, because some really good music also came from that era.

Last Friday night's Underground featured two films starring beautiful Denise Matthews ( aka Vanity). I remember the titles from way back, but never bothered to go see them during their release. I didn't know, however, that the DeBarge song "The Rhythm Of The Night" originally came from one of those two films, THE LAST DRAGON.

I guess most of the films in this time slot are considered cult classics now.

[Looney]

Yeah those two, especially The Last Dragon (1985), are definitely on the Cult Classics list.  But I think you are going to see more and more films from the 80s and 90s showing up on TCM for the reasons mentioned above; corporate can use them or license them for little cost.

[Sukhov]

2 hours ago, Buck'em said:

Seriously, TCM should well know that movies made in the 1980's do fit in the "classic" film genre.

There's literally one 80s movie (Dreamscape) coming one in the next week and it's part of the TCM Underground series. As everyone else in this thread has said it's a series dedicated to intentionally dark and/ or cheesy films from the 80s.

2 hours ago, Buck'em said:

There are so many truly classic films that were made by studios other than MGM that TCM has yet to show.

TCM has a feature for suggestions or you could mention which films you would like them to show here in the General Discussions area. Many here would probably discuss them.

[sagebrush]

7 minutes ago, Looney said:

Yeah those two, especially The Last Dragon (1985), are definitely on the Cult Classics list.  But I think you are going to see more and more films from the 80s and 90s showing up on TCM for the reasons mentioned above; corporate can use them or license them for little cost.

This brings me to a question about some of these more recent films.

Back in 2014, when Philip Seymour-Hoffman died, TCM aired DOUBT as part of a remembrance of film luminaries we had lost that year. That was the only time they aired the film. Is this now a film they have license to show, or did they just rent it for a one time showing?

[TopBilled]

1 hour ago, Looney said:

And of course they can also say that time has passed and these films are old enough to be considered "Classics".  I think we should all be honest.  When TCM/Warner Brothers corporate uses the term "Classic" they don't mean memorable; they mean old.  And if they own the movie they are going to show it because, as calvinnme pointed out, it doesn't cost them like it does to license content from other companies.

Something released ten years ago might seem old. I've always steered clear of the equation that says classic equals old or that old equals classic. They are not synonymous terms at all.

[Looney]

52 minutes ago, sagebrush said:

This brings me to a question about some of these more recent films.

Back in 2014, when Philip Seymour-Hoffman died, TCM aired DOUBT as part of a remembrance of film luminaries we had lost that year. That was the only time they aired the film. Is this now a film they have license to show, or did they just rent it for a one time showing?

More than likely they just licensed it to show the one time.  It is a Miramax film and, the last time I checked, Miramax is owned by Disney, so one time showing is the most likely candidate.

And as far as "80's Movies" go it is inevitable that the further we get from the 1980s the more TCM will have to consider "80's Movies" they own as "Classics".  And as time goes by eventually the 1990s.  But I think it is important to define what we are talking about.  When we are saying "80's Movies" are we talking about movies that show up on TCM Underground or any movie from the 1980s.  What I mean by that is TCM Underground tends to show "80's Movies" that are more of the Cult Classic Variety.  But TCM has shown movies like Chariots of Fire (1981) more than once.  So is the concern that TCM will just start showing any movie they own from the 1980s, good or bad, or just that they will move into showing movies from the 1980s on a regular basis?  Personally I'd prefer they stick to pre-1980s and keep TCM Underground because it doesn't just show "80's Movies".  But we are all getting older and I'm sure many people consider movies from the 1980s the same way I think of movies before 1980.

[Looney]

12 minutes ago, TopBilled said:

Something released ten years ago might seem old. I've always steered clear of the equation that says classic equals old or that old equals classic. They are not synonymous terms at all.

Definitely true, but I'm not sure you work for TCM/Warner Brothers corporate.  I definitely separate the two.  To me Classic = Quality.  I still would rather this channel stick to pre-1980 movies as much as possible despite the fact there are many movies since 1980 that I would consider Classics.

 

(I love Casablanca so much.) 

[spence]

  I'm of course by far a fanatic of HOLLYWOODS GLORIOUS GOLDEN AGE & STUDIO-SYSTEM-(circa 1925-1960-63)

 

& as *Jimmy Stewart said often that Essembly Line approach-(of course lifted from Henry Ford) was the best way of making movies

But in defense of the 1980's vs today, they ruled!!!    I thought there were far more 4 star great releases during that decade then any since & by far too!

 

EXAMPLE: AFI conducted a top ten best films of the 1980's & they were-(compare to each decade since)>9NOTE: American Film Institute can only cite U.S. product)>

1st place RAGING BULL (l980)-(almost a landslide)

2. E.T." (l982)

3. BLUE VELVET (l986)

4. HANNAH & HER SISTERS (l986)

5th place ATLANTIC CITY (l98l)

6. RAIDERS LOST ARK (l98l)

7. *PLATOON" (l986)

8. ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (l984-D/C)

9. PRIZZI'S HONOR" (l985)

10th place THE KING OF COMEDY (l983)

& THEY ALSO VOTED ON TOP ACTOR: *NICHOLSON  ACTRESS: *STREEP & DIRECTOR: *SCORSESE

 

& just for fun my own favs (1980'S)>

1. R. BULL-(also must rate among the top 5 greatest ever!)

2. BLUE VELVET

3. *PLATOON

4. E.T.

5.  ATLANTIC CITY-(P.S. I lived there just after it was completed)

6.  HANNAH & HER SISTERS

7. WHO FRAMED ROIGER RABBIT (l988)

8. ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (D/C only)

9. SHOAH (l985-French)

10th fav of mine 1980's CINEMA, PARADISO (l989-Italy)

(CLOSE-BEHIND: KING OF COMEDY & RAN)

 

I used to go to between 36 & 60 new releases per year during 1980's, 90's, 2000's,etc   but am fed-up with sequels, remakes, comics,etc

 

THANK YOU

 

[spence]

What ever happened to all the slasher flix & teenage sex comedies?

[cigarjoe]

3 minutes ago, spence said:

What ever happened to all the slasher flix & teenage sex comedies?

Equate those with the Blondie/Maisie/Boston ****/Ma & Pa Kettle moviemill fillers of the past.

[Bethluvsfilms]

TCM mostly sticks with the classic era 30's to 50's movies and mid 60's films format, and so far hasn't shown any sign of going the way AMC (American Movie Classics) did.

Nothing wrong with showing a little bit of 70's to 90's flicks in there to have more of a variety. As cigarjoe said, there have been classic films in every decade of filmmaking, but there have also been duds in every era as well.

[scsu1975]

23 minutes ago, spence said:

What ever happened to all the slasher flix & teenage sex comedies?

Hollywood ran out of teenagers. All the teenagers had sex, then were killed off in the slasher films.

[Movie Collector OH]

Yeah, I think the OP has maybe put this out there before.

I like the idea of rarities.  There are plenty of things they can show without having a bunch of repeats.  In my schedule tracking project there is evidence that each year (as I tabulate it) there are time slots where they could be showing more rarities. 
http://moviecollector.us/reports/1)movies-only.htm

In the end though it is a balance between the familiar and the obscure, with them trying to pick up new viewers while many of us hunt down the obscure.

Having said that, my own preference is the obscure, from the early sound movies up about the 1960s, but we each have our own interests here.  Some of the "crappy" 1980s stuff in the middle of the night can be interesting too I think.

If anything, they have been playing more foreign films in recent years.  There used to be a thing called the Sundance channel, not sure if that is still on some cable systems.  I just don't channel surf, and it bothers me when others leave the TV on other channels - for me that is like leaving the toilet seat up.

 

[spence]

42 minutes ago, cigarjoe said:

Equate those with the Blondie/Maisie/Boston ****/Ma & Pa Kettle moviemill fillers of the past.

Bad movies back then were at least fun

[LawrenceA]

12 minutes ago, MovieCollectorOH said:

There used to be a thing called the Sundance channel, not sure if that is still on some cable systems.

SundanceTV is still around, but like many other channels, its programming has changed drastically. They no longer show only indie and foreign films (I'm not sure if they show any of those films any longer), but now show blocks of old network TV shows, as well as their own TV programming, both scripted and "reality". TCM shows more foreign language films than any other cable channel that I'm aware of, and that's still not very many. TCM Imports shows one or maybe two every Sunday very late night, and there's occasionally a couple more in a month during other hours of the day.

[Movie Collector OH]

2 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

SundanceTV is still around, but like many other channels, its programming has changed drastically. They no longer show only indie and foreign films (I'm not sure if they show any of those films any longer), but now show blocks of old network TV shows, as well as their own TV programming, both scripted and "reality". TCM shows more foreign language films than any other cable channel that I'm aware of, and that's still not very many. TCM Imports shows one or maybe two every Sunday very late night, and there's occasionally a couple more in a month during other hours of the day.

Ughh  So that became another TV Land?  Great.

[sagebrush]

58 minutes ago, MovieCollectorOH said:

Ughh  So that became another TV Land?  Great.

TV Land only shows two or three shows now- all...day...long...

My sister, who has the biggest cable package of anyone I know, says both SundanceTV and Independent Film Channel no longer show international films. WTH?

My favorite TCM programming night is Sunday, when we get the silent film and two imports. I wish, though, that the silent started more in a prime time slot, such as 9pmET, then the imports airing more at the time where we now have the silent.

[CinemaInternational]

The Underground films are apways different from the rest of what TCM airs, often newer and often goofy/violent/sex-fuelled etc. in order to appeal to a different audience. It is true of some of them that they are in the Turner or WB library (Private Parts, Who's That Girl, After Hours [which is very mainstream really, and highly praised to boot], Cleopatra Jones) but some I guess must be aired because they are cheap to air. They aren't really representive of what TCM regards as the best of the decades. As for others ones in late night, like The All-American Boy or Revolution, they aired as second bills of late night double features of Jon Voight and Al Pacino respectively. It's nothing to worry about.

[EricJ]

7 hours ago, sagebrush said:

Last Friday night's Underground featured two films starring beautiful Denise Matthews ( aka Vanity). I remember the titles from way back, but never bothered to go see them during their release. I didn't know, however, that the DeBarge song "The Rhythm Of The Night" originally came from one of those two films, THE LAST DRAGON.

Odd to see Last Dragon show up, as that was an 80's Sony/Columbia classic--And it was no classic even when it came out, but if you didn't know DeBarge's song coming from The Last Dragon, you, sir, or ma'am, are incomplete on your 80's Summer-of-Love movie lore, and are unworthy of the Glow.

What was the other 80's Vanity movie, btw?--Purple Rain?

5 hours ago, scsu1975 said:

Hollywood ran out of teenagers. All the teenagers had sex, then were killed off in the slasher films.

Well, we KNOW what happened to the slasher films:  Gene Siskel's campaign against the Friday the 13th sequels/clones being "fatalistic" and "misogynistic" in their "hypocritically puritanical" formula of teens slashed for having sex in the back room--which led all the other critics to get on high social horses to try and get rid of their most frequent annoyance (think of "Found-footage exorcism" movies today, or James Wan home-invasion Purge movies, and you sort of get an idea)...Until we had parents objecting to the killer-Santa movie, studios gave in on that one, and the first blood was struck.  By that point, it was '84-'86, the local drive-in/B-theater market was fading into big chains, and it left only the more imaginative Nightmare on Elm Street movies to clean up the rest.  (Check out the '06 documentary Going to Pieces, for an absolutely spot-on social and cinematic overview of the genre from beginning to end.)

As for what happened to the teen sex-comedies?:  Cable.  Next question.  

7 hours ago, Gershwin fan said:

There's literally one 80s movie (Dreamscape) coming one in the next week and it's part of the TCM Underground series. As everyone else in this thread has said it's a series dedicated to intentionally dark and/ or cheesy films from the 80s.

An underrated Dennis Quaid movie, IMO, although that may be sentiment at the time, given that it was later upstaged when the aforementioned Elm Street sequels took the "Dream playground" ball and ran with it.  Writer Chuck Russell even went on to direct the good Elm Street #3, which changed the whole series into the aforementioned powerhouse that finished off the slashers...Consider this movie a first draft.

[Fedya]

7 hours ago, sagebrush said:

I didn't know, however, that the DeBarge song "The Rhythm Of The Night" originally came from one of those two films, THE LAST DRAGON.

I'm surprised I didn't know that.  However, another of their hits was a movie song: "Who's Johnny", from Short Circuit:

https://youtu.be/PhIl_ie7Zs4?t=1m54s

 

[Fedya]

5 hours ago, cigarjoe said:

****/Ma & Pa Kettle

quoted without further comment.